Stray Cat Road
by Red Ranger Kei
Summary: Team Cat Street weigh the pros and cons of issuing a challenge to Kogarasumaru in light of their own intra-team turmoil. Gen.


**Authorly preamble or something:** In the Cat Street volume 8 omake, Momiji makes a reference to her 'ribbon road', and I was like, "That's so Air Gear. It needs to happen." I stand by my flawed logic! Set in Air Gear-verse, though no AG characters actually turn up. (They are mentioned, though.)

* * *

**Stray Cat Road**

"Koichi!" Rei shouted a little louder than necessary as he stuck his head in the door. "Great, there you are. You got those team stats for Kogarasumaru yet?"

Koichi nodded silently without looking up, gesturing vaguely toward a small stack of pages.

Momiji, however, had no problem being vocal. "_One_, it's the computer lab, where else would he be? Two, you can't ask for some info, ditch, then turn up days later making it sound like you've been kept waiting." She snorted, giving the length of sturdy ivory lace wrapped around one hand a firm tug. "Three, use your damn indoor voice!"

"Four, no Air Trecks inside," Keito added quickly. "They're bad for the floors."

A pack of pins sailed over Rei's head as he stooped to untie his laces. "Five, pick those up for me, would you?" Momiji added sweetly.

Ignoring her, Rei dropped his ATs on the table next to a few scraps of shimmery pink fabric. Momiji recoiled in horror, shooting Rei venomous looks until Keito moved them to the floor and diligently wiped away all traces of dirt. He shuffled through the pages, scanning them quickly, and shrugged. "Bit of a letdown — I heard they were good, but these stats look pretty average, huh?"

"Not so much," Koichi replied, his typing unceasing as he glanced up at Rei. "Take a look at the progress graphs on page 7, and the timelines on page 9."

Rei flipped through again, pausing occasionally, and raised his eyebrows. "Oh... Huh. Jeez."

"Taiyo stopped by earlier, took a look through the stats," Keito explained. "Said at the rate they're improving, if we want to take them on we should do it as soon as possible. He thinks the longer we wait, the lower our chances of winning, and we'd almost be better off just avoiding them entirely."

Momiji clucked disapprovingly. "How exactly are we supposed to take them on right _now_? What is going _on_ in his head?" She cast a quick glance down at Keito's leg cast and rolled her eyes. "I still think you should sue that company. I'm serious, who makes an actress do stunts like that for a commercial?"

"I did sign a waiver," Keito reminded her, self-consciously scratching at her knee. "It was a dumb move on my part."

"Hold on, you guys see this equipment list?" Rei frowned. "Some of them are using those Air Trecks Koichi designed."

"Will you just let it _go_ already?" Momiji snapped, hitting him in the shoulder with another pack of pins. "We needed money for equipment so he sold a hardware design. _You're_ the one who thrashed his ATs beyond repair in the first place!"

Rei lobbed the pins back. "Don't act like it's _all_ my fault — I know for a fact you took part of the profits for supplies."

"_Borrowed_," Momiji corrected. "I paid Koichi back." She'd been making a name for herself taking commissions from fashion-conscious amateurs, collecting a tidy profit customizing ATs and equipment with pearls and lace.

Koichi cleared his throat, shooting them both a warning look. "If you're going to squabble, find somewhere else to do it," he instructed. "The blueprints were a dumbed down version of what we use anyway — and have you ever heard the phrase 'exploiting previously unknown design flaws'?"

"That's a little evil," Rei remarked, flipping through the stats sheets again. "I think I can work with that." He tucked the pages into a binder and stuffed it into his backpack. "I've gotta go, but let me say this — whoever we go up against next, whether it's Kogarasumaru or whoever, we're going to make a clean sweep, no more of this 'best three of five' stuff." He kicked at the leg of a nearby table. They'd barely made it through their previous match; Taiyo's loss had been taken into account ahead of time, but no one had counted on Rei's sound defeat. Momiji's irritation-fueled last-round victory, so swift and definitive it left her opponent in tears, was all that saved their reputation, but her annoyance was taking its time wearing off.

"All right, _that's_ what I like to hear," Momiji agreed, finally cracking a smile. She stood, carefully shaking out the dress she'd been pinning lace trim and gathered bridal tulle overlay to. "I have to find my way to a sewing machine. Keito, you coming?"

Keito checked her watch and shook her head. "Sorry, not today. I have a meeting with my company, my manager should be here to pick me up any time now."

Koichi rested his hands on the desk in front of the keyboard. "Do you need help getting down the stairs?"

"Nah, I'm good. These things are easier to use than I expected." Propped on her crutches (eyelet lace detailing courtesy of Momiji), Keito made it to the door with surprising speed.

"Easy there, speed demon," Momiji cautioned. "Safety first."

Keito nodded. "Same time tomorrow?"

Momiji grinned. "Where else would I be?"

Rei gave his backpack a sound thump. "I'll try to figure out a better strategy than 'avoid them'."

"You better," Momiji said, "you already said failure's not an option. I'm holding you to it." She bumped her fist against his behind Keito's back as they exited the computer lab.

Pulling up their own stats summary sheet, Koichi rolled his eyes. "I sure hope they actually know what they're doing."


End file.
